Cheater’s Tomato, Corn, and Avocado Salad

Sometimes you need to take the easy way out. It can be hard to juggle friends, family, and work while still setting a little time aside for yourself as well. That’s why sometimes it’s okay to skip corners a bit and fall back on tricks that help you save time without anyone else noticing.

From time to time you can rely on packaged brownies for a bake sale as long as you sprinkle some marshmallows and nuts on top so they come off as looking like gourmet rocky road brownies. Or you can count a nice walk as your workout for the day. You can even tweak one of your old ideas slightly to make a new proposal for work.

While you know that you’re taking the easy way out, often times no one else will have a clue! This salad is one of those recipes that tastes delicious, yet it requires just 1o minutes of your time. Impress your family or your guests with this simple salad that relies on the delicious taste of seasonal produce and a combination of textures, not hours of slaving away in the kitchen. Because the taste of the produce matters so much in this recipe, I would not recommend making any time of year except for summer. Nothing can compare to vine-ripened cherry tomatoes and fresh corn at the peak of the season.

This salad is such an easy no-cook recipe, yet it’s such a tremendous hit at summer parties and backyard barbecues that my mom always requests it! Unlike most corn recipes, you don’t have to boil or grill it, simply marinate it (or not). Allowing the tomatoes, corn, and scallions to marinate overnight is purely optional, but it helps soften the raw corn, similar to the process that seafood undergoes in the ceviche-making process.

Tomato, Corn, and Avocado Salad

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 4 ear corn, husked with skins removed
• 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 4 teaspoons olive oil or canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions:

1. For each ear of corn, stand it in a bowl and slice downward to release the kernels. Add the tomato, scallion, lime juice, oil, salt and pepper.
2. Gently toss the salad, then cover it with plastic wrap and allow the salad to marinate in the refrigerator over night. You can skip this, and allow it to marinate for just three hours, or if you’re in a rush, you can skip the marinating altogether.
3. Up to three hours before serving, add the avocado and more salt, pepper, or lime as desired.
4. Toss the salad once more, then serve and enjoy!